Mussels

Provenance

Barek is one of my dearest friends, and I met him in the early days of running my old framing business. I'd set up at the back of an art gallery and was looking to build a network of collectors and buyers, and street art wasn't well represented in Brisbane at the time. I reached out to Barek with a proposal: he'd bring the work and his following, I'd provide the space and frame everything free of charge, and when a piece sold, he got what he wanted for the art while I made my return on the framing. It was an initiative I went on to run with a number of other artists over the years.

Barek's show was a hit, selling out three times over. He went on to introduce me to many other artists, and our friendship has lasted ever since — through him I've met some of the most wonderful people and collectors in my life. He moved to Melbourne about a decade ago to pursue his career, and earlier this year he took my family and me on one of his art tours through the city — it's where the photo of me as a collector was taken, in the European art galleries of the National Gallery of Victoria's NGV International building on St Kilda Road.